In the mid-17th century when the Dutch first settled at the Cape of Good Hope, built their fortress, and began trading with the indigenous Khoikhoi, they were told of a mysterious people called the Chobona. These people lived in stone houses deep in the interior of the country, were rich in gold and cattle, and had long hair and pale skins. Believing them to be the people of Monomotapa, the legendary southern African empire from whom the Portuguese obtained their gold, the Dutch made every effort to reach them. “Volunteers” were selected, plans drawn up, maps supplied, and expedition after expedition dispatched, but none succeeded in finding the elusive Chobona. In the centuries after, historians dismissed the Chobona as fantasy, blaming the stories on what they believed to be the overactive imagination of Eva, a young Khoikhoi girl who was the Dutchmen’s main interpreter. Yet the rumors never ceased and, as our knowledge of the past has grown, so too has the possibility that the rumors were real. The Side of the Sun at Noon explores the truth behind the rumors, following in the footsteps of the early explorers in what is an innovative and engaging interweaving of a rich array of sources, from ancient Arab writings and indigenous oral traditions to contemporary historical documents and modern archaeological discovery.
